Jealousy
by pwilliamsons
Summary: Patricia knew she shouldn't be jealous. Not after the confusion about KT, the messages from Denby. And she wasn't usually. Until he treated other girls like he treated her. Future Peddie.


Patricia didn't get jealous anymore. Not really. After the whole incident and confusion with KT, then Denby and the messages, she was well beyond jealousy when it came to Eddie. Until he started treating girls like he treated her.

Honestly, though, seven years on and she shouldn't feel like this anymore. They were _married_, for Christ's sake. She'd stuck with him through college; he'd settled in England for her; they'd made a lifetime commitment together. Yet even after all these years she couldn't help but get that twinge in her stomach if he spent too long with someone else, particularly his new assistant.

She was young, fresh out of A-levels, blonde, skinny and gorgeous, with an innocence that reminded her of Amber and the sincerity of Nina. She was such a cute little thing, and Patricia wanted to groan every time her name was brought up in conversation – except it wasn't her name.

He had a nickname for her.

Squeaks.

Supposedly, it had started the day she came into the office, where Eddie, who after all their time spent in Sibuna, had finally learnt the art of walking silently. He came up behind her, to ask her to take a message, and she squeaked. It kept happening each day, any time he needed something, and the nickname stuck.

Just like his name for her had.

And they didn't get along. Not properly. Apparently, she didn't like the way that he was so direct, the way that he didn't have a problem telling her that her work was below his expected level. He didn't like the way that she flirted with the delivery boys, or the other assistants and that she made him straighten up his tie and suit jacket before he left for business meetings. So they fought.

Just like the banter that they'd had, in the beginning.

And really, jealousy was a colour that didn't sit well on Patricia. It clashed with the devil-may-care attitude that oozed from her pores, only hidden when she was showing love for Eddie. So she ignored it, when she could.

"So, I'm going out to lunch, and I make Squeaks come with me, cause the clients a bit of a perv," Eddie begins retelling his day, at the kitchen table in their London flat, while Patricia makes it halfway through a sentence before rolling her eyes, knowing she's not going to like this one. This time though, Eddie notices straight away, and he's sick of the way that she dances around him.

"Oh come on, Yacker, what is it this time?"

She shoots him a death glare in return, surely he knows, and he just sends her that look.

"It's not about Squeaks, is it?" He asks after a while, breaking the silence that builds between them, tension in the room. She pushes her chair back from the table violently, and he has his answer. "Come on, you know there's nothing there. Squeaks annoys me, if nothing else." He's pleading, and on another day she might have noticed, but she's tired and cranky and sick of everything and she just wants to forget about this girl that's making things worse between them.

"Yeah _Squeaks_ annoys you, just like I did. You can't stop thinking about _Squeaks,_ just like you couldn't stop thinking about me. You and _Squeaks_ fight all the time, just like we do. Yes, Eddie, I'm sure there's nothing there," she says, and it's sarcastic and spiteful and _Patricia_ and he can't help but smile.

It's the wrong choice though, as she rolls her eyes and begins to walk off.

"Yacker, wait," he starts, as he does every time. "Please, Patricia, I promise there's nothing between us. She just works for me, we have to spend a lot of time together," he follows her into their lounge room, where she flopped on the couch, reaching for a novel, like she does each time she wants to tell him she's not interested in what she has to say.

"I love you," he pleads. "Only you, always you, you're the one. You know this," he kneels down in front of her, pushing the book aside, grabbing her face and holding it in his hands. "I'm a one guy girl, Yacker. And you're it."

He goes in for the kiss, like always, and it's passionate and loving and she knows he's begun to tell the truth. There's something in the way that his lips move against hers that can make her forget why she's angry with him, as there's always been. He breaks away from her, and looks her dead in the eyes, warm and sparkling and there's so much love and Eddie that she smiles.

"Okay?" he asks, smiling.

"It's okay," she responds and she goes in for it again, and there's lips are touching and he's pulling her off the lounge and they've never made up until they've reached the bedroom, which is where they're going and everything's going to be fine.

But then his phone rings. And he goes to turn it off, like he always does in these situations, but he doesn't, and she looks at the screen.

_Squeaks._

And he answers it.

"You complete arsehole, Eddie Miller!" she screams as he walks into the entrance hall. "You are such a slimeball."

She storms off into the spare bedroom, locking the door, because she's not letting him see what he's done.

Because she's crying, and the last time she did that she was jealous.

"Yacker," he calls out the next morning, bright and early, but it doesn't matter that she wouldn't usually be awake this early, but he knows that she hasn't slept a wink. She never does anymore unless he's in the room with her.

"Come on, Patricia, I really need to talk to you," he pleads, and she can hear him on the opposite side of the door she's leaning against, probably mirroring the exact way she's sitting. They do that a lot now, considering they've been together so long.

"You have to go on that business trip," she says softly, no hit of anger, just defeat, and it breaks Eddie's heart just that little bit more. "Go on, you know that you'll get into trouble from your bosses if you're not there on time."

"Not until I see your face," Eddie pleads, and his heartbreak is just as devastating to her, because they shouldn't be able to make each other hurt like this. "I'm not leaving without that."

She sighs, then takes a deep breath, standing up and unlatching the door. She doesn't open it, doesn't say a word, but it's an admittance of defeat, the waving of a white flag, and it's clear as day to him, so he stands as well, hand on the doorknob. He releases a breath he didn't know he was holding, and opens the door to her.

"Please forgive me," he says, and it's his face that does it, that devastated look akin to a sad puppy that just makes her insides melt and all her resolve crumble.

She doesn't say anything, because that's not their way. They don't apologise, they don't dwell on the issue, they just kiss and make up.

She breaks it off shortly after, noticing that he's dressed and there's a suitcase in the hall. "I love you," she says, and he's glad to hear it, as much as she is to say it, "but you've got to go on that trip, weasel. You can't lose your job," she smiles, nudging him away playfully.

He grins and walks out into the hall, dragging his suitcase and hers along behind him. She gives him one of those looks, that always make him give her the right answer, eyebrows raised and a demanding presence in her eyes.

"Fifteen minutes." He smirks, and her eyebrows just go up even higher. "Go on Yacker, be ready in fifteen." He's not going to give her the answer to the unasked question, so she just plays along.

Fifteen minutes later, she's showered and in a new set of clothes, hair and make-up done, and he's so glad that he didn't fall in love with someone like Amber, who would never have made it in a fifteen minute deadline. Their suitcases are already in the car, and he opens her door and pecks her hand as she slides in and she lets out a little giggle as he walks around to the driver's side.

"So, where are we going?" she asks as they head off, but he just slides her a sly smirk as he is prone to do, infuriating but adorable and just so _Eddie_.

"Do you know what today is?" he queries, and she shoots him a confused look.

"Happy 8 years since I met you," he smiles, holding her hand over the gearstick. She's not shocked that he remembered, because he remembers everything about her, the hopeless romantic that he is.

"What are you doing," she laughs, "You have to go on a business trip."

"No, I have to take my wife on a holiday," he responds, laughing as well. "I've cleared it with both of our bosses, we've both got the next week off."

She lifts up his hand and kisses it, dying to give him a proper smooch, or even just a hug because it's so adorable and so Eddie and this is why she married him, because underneath it all he's a desperate romantic and she couldn't love anyone more, let alone be loved more by any other guy.

"Thank you," she smiles at him adoringly.

"Not a problem, Yacker," he smiles back. "Just so you know, this is why I was talking to Squeaks last night. She booked the tickets for me while I was at meetings; I had to do a bit extra the past few days. Next time I'll just do it on my own," he promises, laughing, and her cheeks blush a furious red, almost the colour of her hair.

Next time, she'd definitely think twice before she got so jealous.

_So that's my first HOA fanfiction, and if you would please review I would appreciate it so much!_


End file.
